By Contrast - I also purchased a 54" VAH exhaust. When the contractor went to install it, it was missing the exhaust transition that was supposed to be shipped with it. I called today and they are overnighting the part as soon as possible so that we are minimally impacted. That is the difference between knowing the value of customer support and doing whatever it takes to solve the problem. Oh and by the way this was the regional distributor dealing with this issue not even the coroporate office. I guess they have the entire supply chain on board to make sure they support their products. Very disappointed in Capital. I will try to reach out to them again.

It is true Harman does not have the best or has not in the past shined very brightly on the customer service side. I have to give them credit that they have some pretty good products but if you have issues you might as well have purchased an Englander cause it might very well be you working on it. Englander has tremendous customer service that pretty much blows any other manufacturer out of the water. This is a good subject for the fireplace forum here or hearth.com.

When my brand new Whirlpool refrigerator quit working for the 3rd time (same problem) in just over a year, I was told I was going to have to pay for the most recent repair because it was out of warranty. A very stern conversation with the service department at the appliance store where I purchased the refrigerator resulted in them doing it one more time "as a courtesy" from Whirlpool. (I told them the other option would be to come pick up the refrigerator and bring me a new one). The service tech literally replaced almost every part in the refrigerator and it's been fine since (knock wood). The "courtesy" would have been to sell me a refrigerator that wasn't so poorly designed that the same thing would go wrong with it 3 times in just over a year! I'm 60 years old and my father sold appliances for a living when I was growing up. My mother still had the same washer and dryer they put in the house 40 years earlier when she passed. Planned obsolescence for the sake of greed and profit has become the substitute for pride in workmanship and concern for reputation. Rant over!

At this point, I called Barron’s to let them know about my dissatisfaction. Barron’s agreed to send out their own service person. A week or two went by before the service rep was at my house. He first tackled the oven door. The door was removed, the inner panel of the door was subsequently taken off, and the issue was immediately clear. There was a screw missing. It didn’t fall off. It wasn’t there, and there was no way for it to fall out of that space. He replaced the screw and the door was fixed. This was such a simple thing that made such a visible and functional impact on the product. How did that unit make it through Viking QC? Finally, more than a month after delivery, I had a functioning oven, albeit with a cosmetic issue inside. The outcome: no more oven worries other than the plastic clip. Next came the refrigerator. The Barron’s repairman adjusted the doors again and successfully reintroduced the same misalignment that was there prior to the Viking rep’s visit. The repairman then told me that he had done what he could do. Outcome: same status as before. Another call to Barron’s and Viking, and Viking agreed to send someone out after some pressure from Barron’s, which was brought on by my complaining to Barron’s. I got a call from the same Viking service rep, who said that he would come out when he got the plastic piece for the range that he had ordered weeks before. It still hadn’t come in at that point. I asked for a timeline but wasn’t given one. I called Viking back and complained. The Viking customer service rep agreed this wasn’t right and told me that she would push Viking service to come earlier. Her advocacy apparently fell on deaf ears. I waited about a month before I needed to take another day off of work to meet with the Viking repairman, who showed up plastic clip in hand. This was despite multiple calls/emails to Barron’s/Viking. The repairman fixed the range in a few minutes and then shifted his focus to the refrigerator. He manipulated the doors using several adjustments for a good 30-40 minutes but was unable to get them in plane. Finally, he said he did what he could do and took some pictures and measurements for Viking. At that point, two repairmen were unable to fix the issue and said that there was nothing left to do. The repairman said that he would submit everything to Viking and that I would hear back shortly. The outcome: a lot of frustration with no real change and waiting on a phone call. A week or so went by before I heard from Viking. According to Viking, and I quote, “the unit is functional.” Viking is unwilling to replace the unit. They concede nothing can be done, but insist the unit is functional. Barron’s agreed the doors should sit flush. The units on the showroom floor had flush doors. The units in pictures on the website had flush doors. My unit, however, did not. I did find out that the Viking repairman blamed the doors on the cabinetry. The opening for the refrigerator was apparently too small. He tried this excuse with me, but I explained to him that, despite his years of experience, basic physics excludes his convenient choice of a root cause (for what it’s worth, I have a terminal degree in a scientific field that requires a deep undestanding of applied physics). Moreover, I know that the cabinet space was not too narrow, I pushed it back into place, and the cabinet was built specifically to the specifications of this particular model. Because this is a built in refrigerator, The Viking service guy needed to uninstall the unit to confirm his suspicion, but he told me that he doesn’t do uninstalls/reinstalls. Fair enough, but then I was in a catch 22. Viking used him as the expert to assess responsibility, but the expert won’t do what it takes to reasonably confirm his diagnosis. Therefore, Viking feels exonerated. I would need to pay an installer to uninstall the refrigerator, have the Viking serviceman back out to see that the opening is large enough, and then pay the installer to reinstall the unit. This would all take weeks, cost hundreds of dollars, and lead to more refrigerator down time. Yes, there was and still is one more lever to pull. I could dispute the charge through the credit card company. As tempted as I am to do so, it would ultimately lead to more down time without a refrigerator and could end up in court. I have thrown my hands up and accepted defeat. The ultimate outcome is this. I will never buy another Viking appliance, and I will never step foot into another Barron’s. Friends don’t let friends buy Viking.